Polish president urges deal with teachers over pay

"The president is appealing to both parties [to the dispute] to try to reach an agreement," spokesman Błażej Spychalski said on Wednesday.

Teachers have warned they will launch a strike of unlimited duration unless the government increases their wages by PLN 1,000 (EUR 230, USD 265) a month.

Spychalski told reporters on Wednesday that teachers should be earning more money and that their pay should be increased sooner than planned. “Teachers' salaries are rising, but we agree that this should occur at a faster rate,” he said.

At the same time, Spychalski criticised union leader Sławomir Broniarz for suggesting that teachers could scupper students' chances of moving on to the next grade, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Such statements do not “make a compromise any easier,” Spychalski said, as quoted by the news agency.

Meanwhile, Broniarz, who heads the Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), told reporters on Tuesday that 80 to 90 percent of teachers were ready to support an all-out strike, which the union wants to begin on April 8, just before key exams at various levels of education.

The education ministry has said that it last year began carrying out a government plan to raise teachers' pay. Spending on teachers' salaries is set to increase by 16.1 percent by September compared with March last year, according to the ministry.

President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki were expected to meet later on Wednesday to discuss ways of reaching an agreement with teachers, state broadcaster TVP Info reported.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, TVP Info